Life in China's lunch lane proves tasty

Going local is the best way to experience this bustling city of 20 million

You will find language and occasional cleanliness "challenges" in China. But making the effort to "go local" could provide some of your most memorable travel experiences and memories.

Photograph by: File photo
, Getty Images

We'll always remember China's largest city for the kindness shown to us by a woman who lives in one of the city's smallest rooms.

My friend and I were staying in the French Concession and set out from our hotel for a walk one morning to explore the local neighbourhood. While many of the city's 20 million inhabitants now live in the highrises which increasingly dominate the skyline, many still crowd into tiny accommodation much closer to the ground.

You will find the most colourful of the city's "longtongs" or "lilongs" - the narrow lanes off the main roads - here in the area where French colonial officials created a district for the French in 1849, after Shanghai was opened to foreign trade following the first Opium War. Other internationals came to live here over the next 100 years, creating one of Shanghai's most elegant, tree-lined neighbourhoods close to the city centre. (Britain and America also established major concessions.)

As a travel writer, I usually thoroughly research an area before my visit. But this time, based only on having passed through the tree-lined French Concession streets during a previous visit to Shanghai, I decided to stay in and explore the neighbourhood without any research or preconceptions.

So when my friend and I started our walking tour, I didn't realize the Shanghai Lanes here were known for their local colour.

As we walked along Shanxi South Road, just off Yan'an Elevated Road, we crossed a small lane on our right. Looking down the narrow lane - barely wide enough for a bike let alone a car, laundry hanging everywhere - I said: "Let's walk down here."

This was my companion's first visit to China.

She hesitated: "Is it safe?" I replied: "It's where the locals live - let's give it a go, you never know. I'm sure it will be fine."

A motor-scooter laden with large empty water bottles squeezed by. Since my last visit five years ago, most of the gas-driven scooters have been replaced by electric models. You really notice how much quieter the streets are, although the pollution levels remain high: you often don't see the sun for days.

A woman came out of a door. We smiled at her, she smiled at us. Pointing to a large Thermos bottle, a container of tea leaves and some glasses, she offered us tea.

She pulled up three chairs, spooned lavender tea leaves into the glasses, and poured on the boiling water.

It was around 11 a.m. As we sipped the tea - we chatting away in English, she in Chinese - she got up and pointed to a bowl. We smiled - and before we knew it she started to prepare soup.

"No, no," we said, shaking our heads and gesturing: "That's very kind but this tea is enough." The woman persisted and in no time handed us each a large bowl filled with steaming soup, noodles, vegetables and a big piece of meat of undetermined origin floating on top.

"What do you think the meat is?" whispered my companion. "I'm not too good with fat or very spicy food - do you think it could be dog or snake? But what can we do, we can't hurt her feelings."

The woman was beaming at us, waiting for us to start eating. I took a tentative bite ... and: "It's delicious," I told my companion. "It's like schnitzel, not at all fat or spicy."

Life in the lane swirled about us. Next to where we were sitting, a man prepared meals he sold to other residents. Pajama-clad old men emerged to take out the garbage, to look at us and as often as not, to give us three-tooth or completely toothless smiles.

As we were finishing the soup, the woman, having refilled our tea glasses several times, started cutting up apples for us for dessert - again smiling away our protestations that we were fine and didn't need any more food.

We were so full. The woman took my companion into her home on the lane - one tiny bed-sitter with a curtained bathroom off to one side, a large photo of her in her wedding dress on the wall.

"I'm going back to the hotel to get some gifts for her," I said. My friend looked a little nervous: "Do you think I'll be okay here by myself? Don't take too long."

Indeed, as I was walking back to the lane, I did think to myself: "What if she isn't there? What would I do? How would I find her?"

But all was well and the woman, after initially shaking her head, was delighted with the jar of emu oil body lotion and the little clipon koala bear I had brought from Australia to be given as gifts during this trip.

As we said goodbye, the man preparing meals and who had briefly acknowledged us, wrote a note in Chinese which he gave to us. (We had it translated later: "Please learn some Chinese next time you come to visit!")

What a wonderful experience and feeling for us both, and an especially warm and reassuring welcome to China for my companion. Our "lane lunch" has remained one of the highlights of our three-month Circle Pacific trip.

Eschewing the large chain hotels where I had stayed on previous visits, I had followed up my decision to stay in the French Concession by checking out Shanghai specialty lodging on www.tripadvisor.com to find Hengshan Moller Villa Hotel (www.mollervilla.com/en/main. asp) ranked third of the 102 places reviewed. (Room rates, including breakfast, generally start at $100 per night although as I write this, I found a special offer as low as $60.)

We agreed with the traveller reviews, almost all of which ranked the hotel "excellent" or "very good" - as well as with the hotel's website claim of "providing services for single-eyed customers, dignitaries and celebrities" (read discerning for "single-eyed").

Built in 1936, this fantasy turreted castle really stands out among all the modern high-rises in central Shanghai. The former headquarters of the Chinese Communist Youth League, the 43-room boutique hotel set in gracious gardens definitely qualifies as "specialty lodging" and offers excellent value for the money.

The hotel often hosts weddings: we saw one bride with an amazing wedding dress spread out around her on the floor - and her oblivious fiancé nearby, engrossed in his iPad.

You can easily walk to Shanghai's main attractions like the Bund along the Huangpu River, the five-kilometre Nanjing Road shopping precinct, and the Shanghai Museum with some antiquities dating back more than 4,000 years. Or take an inexpensive taxi ride: Look for current cellphone applications, sites and phone numbers which will provide destination instructions in Chinese to taxi drivers.

Restaurants are everywhere ("Curry Duck Blood Soup" or "1,000 Packets of Fish Washcloth Soup"- only $1 a bowl), although you might not want to look too closely at the back of some of the hole-in-the-wall eateries where you could see somebody washing the dishes out of a pail of none-too-clean water into a gutter.

Yes, you will find language and occasional cleanliness "challenges" in China. But making the effort to "go local" could provide some of your most memorable travel experiences and memories. Perhaps you will even be invited to your very own "lane lunch."

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